What did you hear: Easter Vigil Edition

I didn't go to the Vigil - Michael did, because someone he knew was being received into Full Communion. He may or may not give his report - How about you? How many readings? Which ones? How were the baptisms handled? How many people in attendance? The fire? Was it actually dark when you began?

The most memorable Easter Vigil I've ever attended was at St. Meinrad Archabbey, a few years ago. It began in the dark of night, down in a courtyard, where the fire was sparked and the Paschal Candle lit. The liturgy progressed, back up in the church, through all of the readings, the homily and then....

we left.

To return at 4am the next morning for the rest of the liturgy. Boy, that was tough. If we'd been staying in the guest house, that would have been one thing, but we weren't so we had to rise, drive and...yawn.

But it was marvelous, and memorable. At one point (pardon me if my memory is fuzzy ...it was early), one of the monks comes in and intones something like "Archabbot, I have good news. Some of the women have been to the tomb and reported that it is open...he is not there...they met him in the garden...He is Risen!" And then Archabbot responded with a series of "Alleluias!" which were shaky and not perfectly intoned, but in their own way...perfect.

At another point...the offertory, I imagine, another monk brought in a live young lamb in a basket. No, he wasn't slaughtered then or even later..I think he was returned to the farmer who gave him.

It was wonderful, but I do think that the Easter Vigil is wonderful where ever - the symbolism is so rich, the texts so indestructible, that it would be hard to wreck it if you tried. Everything works to bring our entire selves in, body, soul and intellect, so that we, almost effortlessly, understand that the darkness that is dispelled is our darkness - whatever that might be, from the small dark pockets of our lives, to the great darkness of death that looms over all of us - and that the Light that breaks into it, is our Light, as well.

Comments

[AmericanPapist]

Ah, my hair still has incense in it from the Easter Vigil.

The Easter proclamation was done by a very well intentioned but basically tone-deaf deacon... so that was a bit of overflow penance from Lent...

4 kids baptized, each with a full pitcher of water for the three immersions - fantastic!
20 more RCIA folks received Confirmation and were brought into full communion. Athanasius, Augustine ... some great conformation names (though for a moment I thought I heard one person had taken the name St. Pelagius - that gave me a fright!!).

Since our parish is St. Thomas the Apostle the pastor used the example of St. Thomas as the basis for meditation in the Homily... calling on the faithful to encounter the risen Lord in all his powerful reality - and not as a "myth" or "nice idea" (appropriate considering this cycle of readings was from Mark - and that whole "historical Jesus" modern reading of that gospel in particular).

2 1/2 hour liturgy all totalled. We did 8 of the 10 readings I believe. Bells during the Gloria. After the consecration and distribution of Communion the Blessed Sacrament was reposed in the tabernacle and the lights were flipped back on - The Church felt like home again!

I love how the Easter Candle serves so many purposed during Easter Vigil - lighting the candles of the faithful, placed in the baptismal font, used to light the candles of the Altar, and the candles of the Catechumans... you get this wonderfully typological expression of the light and grace of Christ inspiring and upholding the whole Sacramental life of the Church!!

[Bender]

Went to St. Matthew's Cathedral, D.C., for the Easter Vigil with Cardinal McCarrick, and an excellent time was had by all. It was already very crowded when I got there at 7:15, 45 minutes early (on the hottest day of the year). By the time we started, the place was packed (capacity over 1,600).

All the candles in the beginning were really cool, but the chanted Litany of the Saints rocked. And it just went on and on and on. Loved it. I was following along in my Sunday Missal, but they added a whole bunch of saints that were not listed there. The one drawback was that it was in English. Latin would have been better, especially since the Vigil was in both English and Spanish.

I'll bet you though that, a year ago, the people (me at least) would not have been sure at first how to chant the response. (the Alleluia we did chant was simply atrocious and unsingable) But after hearing the Litany at "the Funeral" everyone jumped in, perfectly on key, on the first response. I just wish I could find a recording of it somewhere.

And when the lights came on, and watching the baptismal water being poured over the catechumens, a thrill rushed through me both times.

Happy Easter to all. Dominus Vobiscum!

[Fred K.]

St. Paul's
Olathe, Kansas

All seven readings. Roman Canon. Litany of the saints with all the standard ones plus lots of others for the candidates.

Sanctus and Agnus Dei back in English.

Homily on Genesis 1. Next year the second reading, etc. for the next six years. God saw the void and brought light to it. He is the light. God knew that evil was possible in the world so he prepared for it. God hoped in man that man would do His will. God doesn't abandon us even though we don't deserve heaven due to sin.

Oh. During the recessional procession, the altar boy was swinging the incense-thingy in magnificent figure 8 pattern: up high on one side, then the other.

[Juan Lanus]

Happy Easter! To all men in the world.
I'm trying to read the excellent meditations from the Via Crucis in the Rome Colliseum, writen by Archbishop Angelo Comastri.
According to the Vatican Publishing House the text of the meditations for this year's Via Crucis is published as a book.
But I can't buy it, so I'd like to get the texts in the Internet.
Does somebody know where to find it?

[Dan]

I attended my parish’s Holy Thursday Mass, Good Friday Liturgy, the Easter Vigil Mass on Saturday, and Easter Mass today. All in all, it was wonderful. A couple things bothered me though, but I’m wondering it’s just me, so maybe others here can give their thoughts on whether or not I was right to be bothered. One of the things is that during the enactment /reading of Christ’s passion, every time the text as it appears in the “Breaking Bread” book said “Jews” the reader changed it to “the Jewish readers.” I found it distracting because it raised the whole Mel Gibson thing again. Was this done systematically throughout all parishes or, I’m wondering, was this the brainchild of my pastor?

The second thing that bothered me a little is that Pope John XXIII, Oscar Romero and Mother Theresa were including in the Litany of Saints last night. I have nothing against any of these three people, but they are not saints, at least not yet. Is it appropriate to include non-saints in the Litany of Saints?

[Dan]

"leaders," not "readers"

[carrie ryckman]

I love the Easter vigil mass, even though our parish is sorely lacking in the music department. I have to confess, however, that a guy sitting in front of me served as a great distraction. He was actually reading the bulletin and local Catholic newspaper with the help of his candle. UGH!!!! Then, he didn't kneel, and actually sat farther back in his chair, so I had to move over in order for me to kneel. In addition, daughter #3 got faint, and youngest son was very tired. Next year I think I'll try another church for this mass. But I still loved it, distractions and all.

[Petra]

I attended the Easter Vigil at 5 a.m. in the parish I was baptized in. (I think these early morning Vigils are wonderful - it just makes much more sense to enter the church when it's dark and come out in full day).

Easter fire in front of the church (lots and lots of children in the congregation...), Easter candle, procession into the church with candles. Three readings from the Old Testament. Bells at the Gloria (made me cry a bit), with the turning on of lights in the church.

The pastor is rather a liberal and I don't like him much, but he delivered a very decent and completely acceptable homily on baptism being a constant call to follow Christ. There were no christenings or receptions into the Church, but then, these things are not that common round here (Vienna, Austria, Europe).

Last year, the pastor had consecrated pita bread in a wicker basket at the Easter Vigil. This year, he thankfully refrained from doing so. And lo and behold: he was even wearing a cassock underneath his chasuble, as it later turned out! (You otherwise don't see him in any other attire than jeans and a shirt.) Though he does not seem to know or to care that the stole is worn underneath the chasuble... But well.

All in all a very beautiful and moving Easter Vigil, completed with a good Easter breakfast (agape) afterwards.

[ecclesiastes]

Juan:

Those meditations available at: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/2006/documents/ns_lit_doc_20060414_via-crucis_en.html

[Bender]

Juan Lanus --

You can get it at the Vatican website with some nice artwork, Vatican Via Crucis

or just plain text at --

Way of the Cross, Part 1

Way of the Cross, Part 2

[Juan Lanus]

I asked a few minutes ago for a lead to the Via Crucis meditations by Archbishop Angelo Comastri.
Now I found it and want to share it.
Here you can get it, in several languages:
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/index_via-crucis_sp.html
You can also buy the book, published by the Vatican agency. IMO this document is to be read and reread. I plan to discuss it at home, with my Jewish wife and our litle children (more unlikely...).

[LB]

St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington. Bender's comments above were right on target. The place was packed by 7:30, and it was quite warm inside, but the Mass was beautiful. I really liked the Exsultet at the beginning - sure, more Latin would have been great (since modern English doesn't really convey the gravity as well), but Father Caulfield has a strong, clear voice. Then when all the lights came on, the bells rang and the music of the pipe organ swelled ... it was a visceral thrill.

The music generally was terrific (although I think you were a bit harsh on the Alleluia, it was kind of tough to sing), and the Spanish cantor had a particularly beautiful voice. Cardinal McCarrick's homily was short, since there were so many candidates ("This is going to take a few minutes."), but the Mass didn't really take too long. It concluded with "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" in English and Spanish, followed immediately by the Hallelujah chorus.

The Cathedral itself helped out with things, since it looks the way a church should look. It's a lot harder to convey the awe of the season in a church that looks like a high school gym!

[Bender]

although I think you were a bit harsh on the Alleluia, it was kind of tough to sing

Well, the way that it came out of my mouth sounded atrocious, that's for sure. Try though I did, if it didn't offend God's ears to hear me torture it, it surely offended mine. I think He'll forgive me though.

[LB]

That's the good thing about the choir - they're the ones that the rest of the people heard!

[Jeff]

We usually go to St. Mary's, an indult parish, for the Tridentine Mass. But as there was no Tridentine Easter vigil anywhere close by, we decided to try the Dominican House of Studies, which is reputed to have marvellous Novus Ordo liturgy.

Sad to say, we were disappointed. Not with the New Mass per se, which is often just fine, but with the Dominicans. They try, they're young and interested, but they seem to lack a sense of STYLE, a sense of CEREMONY. As if intelligent people learned it from a set of instructions, rather than that it grew naturally and the people just have a feel for it. Everything is done with a sort of mechanical feel to it. And the congregation didn't seem to know whether to kneel or stand or what. And there were the petty annoyance--"Pray my sisters and brothers"--which dog so many new Masses. My wife argues that the best argument for the old Mass is that you never get any HEADACHES.

The homily, very disappointingly from a member of the Order of Preachers, was completely unremarkable. The tomb is the frustrations of our lives and we overcome all that with Jesus. Sigh...

[Fr Martin Fox]

This was the first time I presided at the Vigil, and I made several mistakes -- I offered one of the post-reading prayers at the wrong time, forgot another, forgot to have people stand for Litany of the Saints, and forgot to have the servers pour the water into the font, until I was almost through the blessing! (I figured if the water was there ahead of time, it'd be cold by then; so I arranged to servers to fetch hot water during the litany.) I was singing the blessing, and looked down into an empty bowl, and thought, "how do I fix this?"! So I just paused the blessing, nodded, they poured, and on we went . . .

We had seven of nine readings.

We had a lot of candles, which were progressively lighted: two at the ambo, prior to the readings; at the altar, during the Gloria; at the side altars, during the Litany; and at the high altar, during communion, with the sanctuary lamp lit after the tabernacle was closed.

Did we have incense? Well, just before 7 am Mass, a parishioner came in the sacristy and said, "Father, you should know when we opened up, the church was all smoky!"

Homily here; comments appreciated!

[Sherry Weddell]

Holy Apostles Church, Colorado Springs.

Vigil began at 4 am and lasted 2 1/2 hours. Is this a trend? Are there other parishes that do the before dawn thing? This is the first time I've encountered it.

The sanctuary, which holds 1200, was 2/3 full for the Vigil which is pretty good considering that the timing pretty much eliminated families with small children. Followed by breakfast in the parish hall.

I heard all this from a friend. I admit I whimped out and couldn't drag myself up at 3am to attend. (I'm used to Vigils that go late but are finished by 1 am or so.) So I hit the 7:30 am Mass which was crowded way beyond standing-room only.

[Donald R. McClarey]

Saint Patrick's
Dwight, Il.

Easter Vigil Mass, the longest Mass of the year but well worth it. Darkened Church, light from candles held by the congregation, our priest speaking about the light of Christ. Eleven adult catacumens admitted to the Church from our small parish. Joy seemed to suffuse the Mass.

[Marie]

Northern Virginia. The vigil Mass began at 8:30. Easter fire was lit outside the church, and we were all instructed to LEAVE our seats and come outside. Much angst ensued, but most people did come out to watch. We entered the church in haphazard fashion, everyone scurrying to reclaim "their" seats, and therefore missed the opening proclamations. The church WAS completely dark, and the lights stayed off until the gloria, so that those of us who bailed out on the dripping tapers could not see to follow the readings. The opening "o felix culpa" chant was in Latin, which is fine, except that most of us had no idea what the priest was singing because it was too dark to find the right page in the missals. We skipped only a few readings, had a wonderful choir singing overly long "performance" versions of the Gloria, Angus Dei, and Sanctus, for which the congregation was seated and during which most people looked rather bored. Seven candidates for baptism and/or confirmation. Wonderful homily on the impossibility of being pessimistic Christians, sprinkled liberally with graphic macabre descriptions of the persecution of early Christians. All altar boys were attentive for those parts. The servers had a bet before Mass as to how long it would go, and those who predicted 2 1/2 hours were right on.

[John Lilburne]

Amy wrote: "The liturgy progressed, back up in the church, through all of the readings, the homily and then....

"we left.

"To return at 4am the next morning for the rest of the liturgy."

I can understand it being memorable, but I disagree about it being marvelous, at least since 1970.

According to the 2004 Instruction Redemptions Sacarmentum: "[60.] In the celebration of Mass, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist are intimately connected to one another, and form one single act of worship. For this reason it is not licit to separate one of these parts from the other and celebrate them at different times or places. [Footnote 135: Cf. S. Congregation for Divine Worship, Instruction, Liturgicae instaurationes, n. 2b: AAS 62 (1970) p. 696.] Nor is it licit to carry out the individual parts of Holy Mass at different times of the same day."

The 1970 document in the footnote has: "The liturgy of the word prepares and leads up to the liturgy of the eucharist, forming with it one act of worship. To separate the two, therefore, or to celebrate them at different times or places is not permitted." (From Documents on the Liturgy, Liturgical Press, 1982, ISBN 0-8146-1281-4, page 161).

[MaureenM]

parish church in Chicago
Started with fire outdoors
Church was comfortablly full (at least 2 or as many as full capacity in every pew).
Three readings (or was it 4?) The first reading was in English followed by a psalm in Spanish. Then a reading in Spanish followed by a psalm in English. Back and forth until I was dizzy (and I'm bilingual). The problem was that nothing was announced in advance so you had to guess if you wanted to follow along in the missalette in the "other" language. The style of the Spanish language & English language parts of the mass just didn't mesh in terms of music. The homily was given in both languages and the homilist talked of the water of baptism and the reception into the church of 4 new members.
Four received into the Catholic Church and another half dozen adult Catholics who received communion and confirmation.

Becker Litany of the Saints (beautiful).

[Ken]

St. Mary's/Fort Worth

Standing room only (500+), which was a lot more than last year. In fact, Father noted that 6 years ago, the Church was more empty than not. 60+ initiations: 2 adult baptisms, plus 16 or so older children. I think there were 4 or 6 profession of faith and another 30 or 40 adult confirmations. That was long. In fact, the service ran close to 3 hours, but doesn't seem to have been that long.

My most memorable moment: chanting the Prayers of the People alternating English with Spanish. My reward was a grin from my DRE, who teaches my Spanish class and knows how miserable I am at it.

Father's voice gave out and he ended up reciting most of the Exultet, which was sad. The rest of the music was ok. A guy from the Spanish Mass did the Song of Miriam in Spanish and it was really beautiful. We ran three voices on the Litany of the Saints, and decided next year we will get as many different choir members as possible to get into the rotation. Lots of saints, lots of voices.

This sounds cheesy, but it really worked. We have huge old windows of the Joyful and Glorious Mysteries which you can't see at night of course. So some guys installed back-lighting. When the Vigil ended, the first lights on were those, throwing the windows into high relief in the darkened Church. Really pretty. We'll use the lights again at Christmas, I hear.

[KelliS]

I was received into the Church last night. :) The Vigil started at dusk and it grew dark outside just as we gathered around the fire (only the candidates, catechumens, sponsors, godparents, deacons, and the priest) to light the Paschal Candle before going inside to begin the Procession of Light and the Exultant. The church was completely dark save a bit of light for the readers. It was quiet and beautiful...only the sound of the choir singing.

There were the seven readings and responsorial psalms, bilingually alternating on the readings. We had an almost full house but then again, we had at least 150 seats that we had reserved for family members of the RCIA class.

I saw the comment above about still being able to smell the incense in their hair...I can too. I became overcome with emotion so many times throughout the evening...most especially when the 4 catechumenates were baptized. They processed down the aisle to the font and after our priest blessed the water, they each got a bowl of water for their baptism and went back to the front and up in front of the altar to be baptized. It was so beautiful and I truly felt the presence of the Lord.

I chose St. Brigid of Ireland for my confirmation name even though our RCIA team did not require that we choose a patron saint. I still wanted to do so.

It was indeed a long night and it was clear that so many of the children (and some of the adults in the congregation) were ready to leave, but I just didn't pay attention to that. I focused on the sacraments and on soaking up all the symbolism of the night. I focused on the beauty of the Eucharist and on Jesus' presence with each of us in that room at that time.

I am truly blessed.

[Brian]

Report from Sacred Heart Cathedral in Richmond VA. I missed the early part of the service as I was preparing the incense in the sacristy - when I finally came out, the whole congregation was inside the main body in the dark, diffuse candlelight awash about the worshippers. The deacon is the most tone-deaf man in the bloody universe, so "Christ our Light" was sung by one of the liturgical coordinators. Our sound system freaked out on us twice - at very inoppurtune moments. We had eight readings total, and diLorenzo gave an excellent homily on the challenge of the Resurrection, especially directed at our newly-baptized adults.

By the way, the baptisms were done kneeling with a full pitcher. Heavy stuff, man.

On a lighter note, though, there was one major mistake - we inadvertantly had two signs of peace. The sign was moved to before the consecration, but after it, diLorenzo accidentally called us to a sign of peace again.

Man, diLorenzo is a crazy mofo.

[Charlotte Allen]

I had a horribly disappointing Easter Vigil experience, which was unspeakably sad, because in my opinion the Easter Vigil is the most beautiful and profound of all Catholic liturgies, when the world begins anew and all dead things come to life through the resurrection of Christ.

I'm probably spoiled. I live in Washington, D.C., and I used to go to the Easter Vigil service at St. Anselm's Abbey, where the candles are lit from a bonfire in the monastery courtyard, all seven readings are read, and the austere Benedictine chapel is exactly the right setting for the movement from darkness to light. Alas, we have no car now, so the Abbey was out. I didn't want to to to the Vigil at my own parish, because our "worship coordinator" insists that the music at every Mass be identical, and since I always want to go to Mass on Easter morning, I didn't want that Mass to be simply a replay of the Vigil. So my husband and I headed to a beautiful downtown church long known for its stately, solemn, and utterly orthodox liturgies. And the church program, by a beautiful Duhrer woodprint of the Resurrection, promised hymns in Latin.

Then the liturgy began. There were two female cantors. The first one mangled the Exsultet. (You think the Exsultet can't be mangled? You weren't in that church last night.) The second cantor insisted on leading the congregation like a second-grade teacher at the Christmas pageant, waving her arms and smiling enouragingly at us. We got only three of the readings, and the lectors mumbled two of them so badly that I could scarcely follow.

These things I can forgive; the lectors and cantors were clearly well-intentioned, and I don't expect perfection at Mass. What I could not forgive were: 1) the crew of churchgoers armed with digital cameras seated two pews in front of us (I gather they were friends or relatives of people being baptized that night); they held up those cameras, blocking our view of the sanctuary, throughout THE ENTIRE LITURGY, so that whenever I tried to look at the altar, I found myself looking instead into a little screen with a little priest in it; and 2) the celebrant, the new pastor of this once-admirable parish. To put it succinctly, he camped the liturgy. To put it another way, he played the liturgy for laughs, mugging at the deacons, the lectors, the baptismal candidates, and whoever else he happened to be sharing the stage with at any given moment. The very worst was the sprinkling of the congregation with water, which the celebrant--and, following his lead, the congregation--treated as a huge joke.

So, as the choir gamely chanted the ancient "Vidi aquam" in Latin, everyone else in the church giggled and mock-ducked the drops of water as the celebrant roamed down the aisle theatrically sprinkling the hyssop and grinning from ear to ear.

Then came the baptisms: more horseplay and giggles as the celebrant, rolling his eyes at the congregation, made several false starts positioning the heads of the candidates over the basin. One of the candidates, a most attractive young lady wearing a tight white skirt with a slit up the back, did provide my husband with several minutes of pleasant entertainment as she stood with her back to us scratching her bare and shapely left leg with her right foot. "She's a hottie," my husband, who is not a Catholic, whispered to me appreciatively as he contemplated her well-defined hindquarters. Not an appropriate remark for Mass, to be sure, but not inappropriate given the circumstances.

The entire Mass proceeded along those lines: the Consecration, the Communion (after which a large segment of the congregation promptly disappeared--they were clearly there to get their Mass "out of the way" so they could spend Easter morning at egg rolls and brunches), until it was mercifully over--or almost over, for we had to sit through the longest set of "thank-yous" from the celebrant that I have every heard in my life. It was like the Academy Awards. He named everyone involved in that Mass--cantors, lectors, musicians, godparents for those baptized, etc.--by name. The only people he missed were his mom and dad. Then--get this--he wished us all a "Merry Christmas." Ha, ha, ha!

I was in a state of slow rolling boil throughout the liturby, although I kept telling myself that this was a well-deserved penance for the many sins I have committed throughout my life. I did notice that one of the several priests in attendance at this travesty wasn't having any of it, and was politely but grimly praying at the very back of the sanctuary. After it was all over, I noticed this young priest standing outside the church, so I went over and wished him a Happy Easter to cheer him up.

After this blasphemy, this scandal to my husband, who is not a Catholic and who, I'm sure, has made one more resolution never to join the Catholic Church, I resolved never to attend another Easter Vigil again in my life. But I see that several commenters on this thread had perfectly fine experiences at St. Matthew's Cathedral, which indeed offers solemn and beautiful liturgies. So I've instead resolved never again in my life to set foot into this particular church.

And never have been so appreciative as I was this Easter morning of my own dorky little Washington parish. Sure, our organist mashed some chords, the congregation refused as usual to sing, the lectors weren't great, and the celebrant flubbed a couple of cues. But no one in my sleepy little parish church took the liturgy anything but seriously. There was not a single giggle. God bless them.

[Bender]

"To return at 4am the next morning for the rest of the liturgy."
I can understand it being memorable, but I disagree about it being marvelous, at least since 1970.
According to the 2004 Instruction Redemptions Sacarmentum: . . . it is not licit to separate one of these parts from the other and celebrate them at different times or places. . . . Nor is it licit to carry out the individual parts of Holy Mass at different times of the same day."

John, bless you, but Amy was joking! She was merely saying that it was a looonnngggg service.

[Timothy]

Both Timothy and Bender are incorrect. In some monasteries a "night watch" occurs within the Easter Vigil. The monks do not leave - outsiders might (although they are encouraged to stay, as well). The liturgy is most definitely not split in two, John. As I said, the monks remain in a "night watch." The liturgy does not end then begin again.

[Bender]

Please, if there is one thing we could eliminate permanently from our language and our hearts is "What I could not forgive . . ."

Everything can be forgiven (except, of course, refusing God's forgiveness).

[Charlotte Allen]

C'mon, Bender. Everyone knows that there are some things that even God can't forgive: wearing white shoes after Labor Day, answering your cell phone at the movies, letting your car alarm run all night. I'd like to see YOU forgive those sins!

[Quiet Soul]

As this seems to be the place to describe the Holy Week liturgies. Here is again the Holy Week liturgies at our parish.

Easter Triduum, St. Thomas Aquinas, Charlottesville VA

Holy Thursday: Gregorian Mass ordinary with Kyrie Kyrie XIV, Gloria II, Sanctus XVII, Agnus II; Entrance: "Lord You Gave the Great Commission"; Responsorial Psalm: "Our Blessing Cup" by Monaco; Gregorian Tract "Confitemini" by soloist; Offertory: "At that first Eucharist" Turton-Monk; Gregorian Communion Verse "Manducaverunt." Communion Hymns: "What Wondrous Love" and Byrd's "Ave Verum Corpus" (yes!). Pastor washed the feet of 12 young men in albs with these chants: "Mandatum Novum" and Proulx's "Ubi Caritas." Procession with Blessed Sacrament around outside of parish hall to singing of Pange Lingua (choir sang the melody without words when we were in the deep darkness outside--different). Longish sermon on Christ's gift of the priesthood and Eucharist. Adoration continued to 12 midnight, closing with reading of Christ's Farewell Discourse (Jn 13-17)--a Dominican tradition.

Good Friday: Silent entrance and prostration. Responsorial Psalm: "Father into your Hands"; Gregorian Gradual before Passion "Christus Factus Est" by schola. Passion sung in English to Domincan tone, with pastor as Christ, assistant pastor as narrator, and scholas as the "crowd" (chanting in harmony). Intercessions: all sung by deacon and pastor, with genuflections. Veneration of the Cross: Cross was progressively exposed and elevated during chanting of Wise-Roehig Reproaches combined with a Greek-Latin Hagios. Chants during veneration: Pange Lingua in English; "There in God's Garden" by a trio; Taize "Crucem Tuam"; "Drop, Drop, Slow Tears" Orlando Gibbins. These were all sung 2 or 3 times as the church was full and there was only one cross, so people venerated one by one, with many choosing to kneel or prostrate when kissing it. Communion hymns: Caswell's Hymn to the Precious Blood with Filitz harmony; "Soul of my Savior" 3-part. Departure in silence.
Easter Vigil (at 8:30 pm). Blessing of fire and candle in court yard with usual acclamations entering church; 3 T.O. readings. Gloria VIII (Mass of the Angels) sung with organ, ringing of bells, and lighting of the church. Old Gregorian triple Alleluia of Easter raising pitch each time. Longish sermon by assitant pastor on God being so great that he can care about even the littlest things, so he would have died and risen for even just one of us. Long litany of saints at a rapid clip. 10 baptisms, 12 or 13 professions of faith as Catholics, 40 some odd confirmations. Offertory: "At the Lamb's High Feast" to Hintze-Bach harmonies. Sanctus and Agnus from Mass of the Angels. Communion meditation: Byrd Ave Verum again (yea!!). Recessional: Jesus Christ is Risen Today." Reception/party in parish hall over after midnight.

I didn't make it to the one big parish Mass at day which is in the University's old basketball arena and usually draws over 2000.
A very special Holy Week.

[DgiHairshirt]

St. Joseph's in Santa Ana, CA.

Yes, it was dark when we started, as was the church - making it all the more meaningful when our pastor came in with the one light, the Paschal candle, at the beginning.

21 baptized, about 35 elect in all - extraordinary, when you consider our church building is smaller than most. The parish continues to grow . . .

See my blog for more feedback on our Great Easter Vigil!

[Fred K.]

when I said all 7 readings, I meant all 7 OT readings, plus the epistle and the Gospel. And yes, we sat in the dark through all the OT readings. Then the gloria, the bells, and the light.

[Alia]

Our Easter Vigil started at 7:30PM - still light out (it was moved forward an hour about three years ago for what reason I don't know). They lit the fire in the courtyard and processed in from there with the Paschal Candle. This year, they did something slightly different and left the lights completely off in the church until the Gloria (they used to bring the lights up to about half illumination), which caused problems - the Exultet was slightly delayed while someone brought Father a book light so he could see while chanting. It wasn't until after the second Psalm that someone thought to bring the cantor a light - which then messed her up on one of the later Psalms when she couldn't see the yellow highlighting on her music indicating that she was supposed to continue on to another verse instead going back to the refrain.

All Psalms but the final one (Haugen's "As A Deer Longs") had chanted verses. Lights finally came up to full illumination with the Gloria (Oh, no - the end of Lent means Haugen's Mass of Creation comes out of banishment - if I have one complaint about my parish, it's that MOC is trotted out for any special Mass/feast day). Gloria did come complete with bells rung by hand in the choir, plus one of the parish council members ringing the church bells.

Alleluia and Lamb Of God were from Mass of the Angels And Saints, so it wasn't all Haugen.

We had 16 baptisms and an additional 12 people coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. One question that I'm curious about - the last two years (since we got our new pastor), the baptismal font has been set up on the floor to the left of the altar (near where the cantor's stand usually is) and those to be baptized actually step into the font and then Father pours water over their head using the pitcher. It does give a kind of "baptized in the Jordan" feel, but I hadn't seen it done like that before, so I was curious if other parishes had something similar.

Litany of Saints was chanted in English. We did a reprise of the Alleliua after each baptism.

We ended Mass after three and a half hours with Resucito (in English and Spanish - we're in Texas, after all). A little too much Haugen and Haas (our second Communion hymn), but a priest who likes to chant (Exultet, the Eucharistic Prayer, the Our Father, the Solemn Benediction) helps make up for that.

[Maureen]

8:30 PM, St. Albert's, Dayton OH

I don't know why, but last night's Easter Vigil was one of the most beautiful of my life. I've been disappointed with how I did during Lent, so that was pretty special.

Mass attendance was about the same as a normal Mass on one side of the church. In previous years, the church was packed on both sides. However, we went to year-round RCIA this year, and only four (out of 14 all year) people got baptized/confirmed at Easter Vigil. (The others have or are entering the Church at other times.) We went back to having the church dark and (relatively) quiet before Mass, which worked better for atmosphere. You could see the stained glass windows glowing by the parking lot lights, which was nice since they have a salvation history theme. All the flowers in the altar area looked like big bushes in the dark.

When it was time for Mass to begin, it was announced that people should go on back outside for the lighting of the Easter fire. Almost everybody went out (aisle by aisle, following the priest, servers, and ushers) since it was nice and warm. (We choir folks had to stay in.) The ushers made sure that people who stayed in got candles. (Except for the choir. As usual, we had little flashlights. Considering all the paper we shuffle and the wooden loft floor, this is a goooood thing.) Everybody processed back in, lit by a server with the big Easter candle and a few ushers with tiny lights. (It's not a terribly long or wide church, so this works for us.)

We had all the usual chant-y bits, including a really EXCELLENT Exsultet! It was beautiful! I had no idea Fr. Larry had it in him! (Well, I think it was Fr. Larry -- it was dark....) :) After that part of the Mass was done, the people had to blow out their candles for the readings. Darkness, except for the Easter candle, the tabernacle candle, and the lights up on the altar.

The readings were really well done. Our English lector did the Genesis one, which takes some skill to make interesting, since it's so familiar. Psalm from the choir loft. Then one of the cantors (from the ambo) did a recitative-with-choruses setting of the Exodus reading ("Sing a Song of Freedom"). I'll admit to previous doubts, but it worked out wonderfully. Psalm. (I helped cantor that.) Then reading, psalm, reading and into the next portion.

I can't remember most of what we sang at the moment... The Gloria sounded so fresh after six weeks! We did the chanted Litany of Saints, of course. After baptisms we sang "You have put on Christ, in Him you have been baptized, Alleluia, Alleluia" -- I like that. The ending song was "Sing with All the Saints in Glory". Also, the organist threw in all the cool stuff the new organ can do, and my mom said a lot of people kept looking back at the loft to see where all the musicians and instruments were hiding! :)

But mostly, it was beautiful and holy, and it was so wonderful to welcome in the baptized and confirmed people. I couldn't help thinking and praying a lot for all our blogger friends who were doing the same thing that night -- so far away, but so close in the Body of Christ! Jesus seemed very near.

[Judy Smith]

St. Vincent Ferrer in Delray Bch. FL had no 4PM or 5:30 PM vigil Masses - only the 7 PM Easter Vigil Mass.

Our pastor wrote in last week's bulletin:"..there are no liturgies on Holy Saturday befor the 7 PM Vigil Mass (how could anyone properly celebrate Easter before concluding the Triduum - The Sacred Three Days observance? It's a theological contradiction and overwrought stretch of the imagination that really has been banned by the bishops).

It is refreshing that he insists that our schedule revolve around the Church's liturgical cycle instead of distorting the Church's cycle to fit in with our precious schedules.

[Andy Nowicki]

Dan,
That's just too typical PC horribleness (changing "Jews" into "Jewish leaders"-- altering Holy Scripture, for cryin' out loud!). You have every right to be bothered. And yes, it was just a pastoral indulgence, though I wouldn't be surprised if it were uttered in other parishes as well by similarly PC-whipped priests. At my parish, the priest didn't take it upon himself to alter Scripture to appease modern-day sensitivities.

[kathleen reilly]

Northern Va

This church has sliding glass doors as a back wall. they were open, so the "back row" was effectively outside the church. those seats seemed like a good choice for people like me with little kids. But we couldn't hear much beyond the organ and the kids were running around, naturally, b/c they were "outside". it was a miscalculation on my part.

but the finest moment came when queuing for communion someone's cell phone rang in my row. dear reader, he answered it.

[Ray from MN]

The Tridentine Easter Vigil Mass at St Augustine's in South St Paul, MN, started at 11:00 p.m. after the Novus Ordo Mass in English was finished about 10:00. Remind me never to attend again -- without bringing a missal, particularly for the 90 minutes of the readings in Latin, interspersed with the occasionally recognizable "Per omnia saecula saeculorums."

I figured it had been 46 years since my last appearance and it was about time. Family commitments generally have kept me from any service on Holy Saturday during that time.

Due to the late hour, Mass didn't start til 12:30 a.m., the crowd was sparse, maybe 75 people, many of whom also did not have missals. And elderly woman in a front pew seemed quite knowledgeable as to what the congregation should be doing, so after a bit, I just watched her as to when to stand, sit or kneel.

The service began in total blackness and appararently there was a problem lighting the fire as the celebrant introduced the very short homily by apologizing for the delay and promising "wood chips next year." I was near the front so I didn't see what happened. Baptisms had occurred at the Novus Ordo ceremony. There was a very nice choir of about 15 people and to my amateur ear, all seemed fluent in pronouncing, if not understanding the Latin. All went well although the celebrant could have used a knowledgeable Master of Ceremonies to keep the ten altar boys directed. That would have allowed him to slow down his movements and concentrate on the celebration at hand.

I'm glad I went. I'm not a believer that a universal indult will radically increase the number of fans of the Tridentine Mass. And I wouldn't go every Sunday. But on a special occasion such as Holy Saturday, if I can find a missal, I will go again.

[Ray from MN]

[Last paragraph of previous post]

I'm glad I went. I'm not a believer that a universal indult will radically increase the number of fans of the Tridentine Mass. And I wouldn't go every Sunday. But on a special occasion such as Holy Saturday, if I can find a missal, I will go again.

[John K.]

Easter Vigil, St. Francis DeSales, Holland, MI
What is different about our parish is the number of languages used. This year four, English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and sign. Our pastor signs as do a couple of parishioners for those present who benefit from signing.
During Lent we did the Agnus Dei in Latin, but at the Vigil we sang it in Vietnamese. The whole congregation joins in.
The baptisms are performed at the baptismal font which includes a small pool so that priest and catecumen step into the water for the baptism.
I don't recall the number of baptisms, confirmations, etc. but the sanctuary was crowded, with 20 to 25 people involved, not counting sponsors.
The rest of the liturgy was carried out with reverence and participation.

[St. Elizabeth of Cayce]

Newman Center Parish

We began inside at 8:30, processing out to the fire. It was dark, even with streetlights, and the flames, sparks and crackles intensified the experience. We sang Christ Our Light, processing back into the Chapel by the light of the Paschal Candle and a few tapers held by servers.

Candles were lit only as we entered pews--probably the safest route. Candles were extinguished after prayer.

We did all the readings in the dark. There was a Psalm after each, but not always the "official one." We did "Ps 145: I will Praise Your Name" after Reading IV (Is 54) and "Come to the Water" after Reading V (Is 55.) The Song of Miriam was, as always, a literally rousing song in the middle of the readings.

9 notes on a trumpet (Give Glor-ry to God in the High-est), and the Bells and it was Easter!

As a university parish, we always have RCIA candidates and catechumens. The homily focused on the journeys of those being received and the completeness of Christ's sacrifice.

One young man was baptised, kneeling in the pool, and the Vidi Aquam was chanted while he was out changing into his baptismal robe. He smiled the entire rest of the Mass--beaming as he and the other 8 candidates for full communion were received (during the annointing we sang the Taize Veni Sancte Spiritus.)

We followed it with Alleluia, Let Us Rejoice.

The Exulset and Litany were done in Latin, this Parish having gotten much more used to Latin due to its use in Masses during Lent.

Offertory included Lift Up Your Hearts (OK) and Lord of the Dance (grrrr--I cannot sing two of the verses at all. Being in the choir and not wanting to make an obvious disturbance, I mouthed "watermelon" while we "leapt up high" and while we lamented the difficulty of dancing with the devil on one's back...)

We did the Eucharistic Prayer setting from the Mass of Creation, which suits our Padre's tenor.

Communion: Now the Green Blade Rises and I AM the Bread of Life.

Closing: Jesus Christ is Risen Today.

Right at 3 hours. Allergy meds made it through the duration (incense & lilies--thankfully no perfumes.)

[liberty]

I was divided on my experience at the Easter Vigil... right up until the end.

I went to St. Edmunds in Oak Park (just outside of Chicago). To be honest, I am 'parish shopping' because I can not stand my local parish and there is a lot to like about St. Edmunds.

We started at 7:30 out in front of the church just as evening turned to night. It was very nice with the fire and then everyone entering the darkened church.

The downside was that there was a woman of a certain age who seemed to think she was in charge of everything. She inserted herself into the procession directing everyone ... At the end of the evening we found out that she was a nun. Of course not that you could tell by what she was wearing, or any sense that she was reverent during the procession.

The readings were lovely, but for whatever unknown reason the music director evidently decided that the word of God wasn't enough... and added sound effects. No, I am not kidding - it was like a soundtrack to a Hollywood movie. I was pretty much in tears of frustration because I couldn't hear the readings (I was seated below the choir loft).

The church has a lovely organ - I wonder why they never use it?

Another bad sign - liturgical dancers. The incense was carried in a bowl by two young girls dressed like Vestal Virgins (short skirted Grecian style dresses) and two men dressed like Morris dancers. I tried to pretend they weren't there.

The parish has been around since 1907, I am sure they have some great incensors in a storage room somewhere; I wish they would use them.

There was one baptism (three full pitchers of water), One person coming into full Communion with the church and three confirmations... pretty excellent all around.

Instead of being sprinkled we all went to the baptismal font to cross ourselves with the water... eh, I'm undecided on that one.

The homily was pretty much fantastic... one of the big reasons I can see myself joining the Parish is the great Pastor and his homilies.

Music was pretty awful as always... I mean the musicians are wonderful, but the choices - ick.

Then it was time for thanks to everyone. I might be the only one but I am really bothered when people are thanked during Mass and then everyone applauds. It just seems wrong.

I was pretty ambivalent on the whole experience right up until the end when the choir sang a FABULOUS Hallelujah Chorus from Handel. It just made me wonder why the rest of the music is so bad.

I walked out into a lovely spring evening to the fantastic sound of the bells of the church ... between that and the Hallelujah Chorus it was an amazing evening.

[MJ]

The Exsultet at our church was sung by a member of the choir who has a rare form of cancer for which there is no cure. His performance wasn't absolutely perfect note-wise, but I don't think I've ever heard a better tribute to God's grace and goodness.

[Fr. Totton]

Like Fr. Fox above, this was my first Easter Vigil as pastor (and therefore the first at which I presided) Since it is a small parish, I also had to kind of serve as MC/Referee for servers - though they did a remarkable job - as did all the servers during the Triduum.

wind and thunderstorms threatened, so we lit the fire in the door of the vestibule (note to self - DO NOT BURN Last year's oils in the Easter fire EVER AGAIN) - The wind still gave us trouble, so we had a difficult time lighting the taper to light the easter candle. After a time it happened. Processed in to the darkened church (which, unfortunately, is on a busy street with constant streetlights pouring into the stained glass, diminishing the effect of the darkened church.) chanted "Christ our Light" - I really do need to work on lowering my pitch. Servers lit the candles of the congregation after the third "Christ our Light"
I chanted the exsultet (as I had last year) and I know I should have practiced a bit more.

9 readings w/ accompanying Psalms (either sung or chanted) and prayers (I did once pray the wrong prayer - it was the second option for the previous reading)

The first seven readings read only by the light of the Paschal candle (actually we did have a small desk lamp on the ambo) Servers had pen lights to assist readers/cantors into and out of the sanctuary - also to assist me in reading the prayers.

Lights brought up at the gloria (w/bells) first a spot on an empty cross (NOT the Altar crucifix - this was a devotional area set up to the side) next a spot on the Sacred Heart statue standing in front of the empty cross, then, His Mother - the rose window (Our lady of the Immaculate Conception) Finally, Sanctuary, and nave (radiating back from the sanctuary) servers lit altar candles from paschal candle. They were having an impossible time with the tall candles on the high altar and eventually resigned themselves to the fact that those candles would not be lit that night.

Baptism of 3 adults, 1 child. Confirmation of same 3 adults. Baptistery is actually in the sanctuary, so the procession arrived long before the litany of the saints finished (Becker - but without invoking Origen)

Renewal of baptismal vows and sprinkling with Holy Water - there was a certain smile (joy) on my face, but I would hate to think anyone would construe that as treating the whole affair as a big joke - nobody ducked in a silly manner as if to avoid drops of holy water!

We read all nine readings

[Fr. Totton]

whoops - hit post before my time.

I did inadvertently omit the prayers of the faithful.

Mass as usual afterward (with incense etc.)

Solemn Easter Dismissal

All told 2.5 hours

[Dan]

Congratulations, KelliS!

Our Vigil (in Ft. Wayne, IN) started at the bonfire. The RCIA class stood on the opposite side of the fire from me (I was over there last year). We started a half-hour later than previous years due to Indiana's recent time change. Our priest cut alpha and omega and the year into our candle, lit it and carried it into the darkened church. Alter boys lit candles from the main, Easter candle and we all lit our candles from theirs. The flowers and decorations were all beautiful.

We had a full service, all the readings, all the music, all the incense, all the prayers, ten baptisms, 14 or 15 new members, and a well chanted litany of Saints. I was serving at the banquet this year, so I was outside this year when the outdoor speakers were turned on and the choirs' Halleluja Chorus blasted out over the neighborhood. The Vigil went from 8:30 to around 11:30pm and we didn't clear out of the banquet until nearly 1 in the morning.

Happy Easter!

[Monica]

At a 2 hr. 45 minute long Easter Vigil in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles:

All in all, a moving service, beginning after dark with the fire outside.

But did the procession into church really need to be lead by a group of singing musicians with guitars & other instruments(who were only kind of semi-singing and playing, not too in unison, by the time they got close to the sanctuary, anyway), as well as dancers?

It's been much, much more moving in years past, with just the candle and a single person chanting "Christ be our Light", and the congregation responding "Thanks be to God" as the sole focus of the procession in.

Also, did the beautiful chanting of the Exsultet by a priest really need the accompaniment of a liturgical dancer in order to be deemed effective? Or what?

Memo: Sometimes less is much more!!!!

[Fr Martin Fox]

Fr. Totton:

Congratulations! It is a (good) ordeal, isn't it?

I will make a further confession; I ended up relocating the sprinkling after the reception and confirmation, because I thought that's where it happened, and that's how I rehearsed it with the sponsors and the RCIA leaders; but when I came to that part of the liturgy, the book had it laid out otherwise. It seemed to work, and so it's tempting to do it that way again, but the rubrics . . . oh I'll think about that later!

You reminded me of what I'd forgotten: the oils! I had put them into a milk carton, so they could be burned, and forgot to bring them over.

So I'm curious -- why do you say "never again"?

[Lisa]

My twins were altar servers for the vigil, so we arrived for the Easter Vigil extra-early. Here's something I'll bet no one else can say about their Vigil experience: we had Mormons! 5 white-shirted, black-tied, name-tagged, book-carrying young men chatted in a circle outside the church,in the area where the Easter fire is lighted.

[Fr. Totton]

Fr. Fox,

Yes, an ordeal, but one borne with great rejoicing!

I said I will never again burn the oils in the Easter fire because oil does not "burn" - it only causes black smoke - better to burn oils and remaining palms (not those to be used for ashes) in a dignified, but unceremonious manner outside the liturgy (unless burning at he vigil is a mandate - and I believe it is merely a suggestion - if I am mistaken, please correct me)

[James Englert]

Annunciation Parish, Cincinnati Ohio

Smallish crowd in city parish, no initiations. But a beautiful and careful service led by new pastor. Fire outside, procession in, candles and a very small amount of light. I wondered how Father was able to read the psalm prayers in the darkness! Beautifully chanted proclamation by a woman whom I was told teaches at the music conservatory. Three of the seven readings: the Abraham and Issac, the Exodus and the Ezekial (though not the Genesis, which I missed hearing). Very good short sermon about what life is like after the resurrection: Jesus is the same but different; the failings of the apostles during the passion are not forgotten, but not dwelt on either and they are pointed to new life and new responsibilities. Interesting analogy to a married copy after an infidelity: one can leave or stay; if the couple stays together, the past is not forgotten and life begins in a different way. Chanted Litany of the Saints. Very good small choir; two Haas hymns and one Jesus Christ is Risen Today.

[James Englert]

And also: candles and holy water distributed on way out with exhortation to use sacramentals to continue the Easter season in our daily lives.

[St. Elizabeth of Cayce]

Correction on Newman Center report:

Litany was in Latin; Exulset was in English.

I think it is this particular cantor's voice that I will forever hear in my head when I see the words "O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, that gained for us so great a Redeemer."

[Fr. Bryan]

St. Joseph Parish
Muskogee, Oklahoma

Main points to the Vigil:

Started at about 8:30pm (in darkness) and ended at about 11:00pm. Larger than average attendance. Over twenty adults and children baptized/confirmed, the largest group in the parish for several years. Due to a burn ban caused by a drought, a SMALL fire was used just outside the church doors. The holy oils from last year were burned in the Easter fire.

A deacon held the Easter Candle alot at the foot of the altar as I chanted the Exultet. Alternated readings in English and Spanish. For once I remembered all the prayers after each reading.

The focus of the homily:

The Light of Christ, symbolized in the Easter Candle, is the sign of Christ's ultimate victory over sin and eternal death. God's Love is greater than the power of evil (the real meaning of Easter). In Baptism we allow ourselves to be embraced by the Light of this Love. It is sealed in Confirmation and nourished by the Eucharist. As the Church, we are entrusted with this Light to keep it burning until the Lord returns. As a sign of this Love, the Easter Candle burns not only until Pentecost, but for each baptism and funeral in the parish throughout the year.

Beautiful singing by both the English and Spanish choirs and cantors. The baptisms-profession of faith-communion went according to plan. EP I was used with all the saints names included. A joyful reception followed the end of the Vigil.

Misques:

It took too much time to get everyone into the church following lighting the Easter Candle. In the darkness some of the candidtates/catechumens, their sponsors and families had difficulty finding their assigned pews, causing much confusion and excessive noise. I had to gently remind people to maintain a reverent silence. I muffed the Exultet in a couple of places. We forgot to ring the bells at the Glory and use the incense (which all prepared and ready to go).

Overall, the Vigil was, to me, a bit chaotic in places, but the feedback so far has been only positive.

Congratulations to KelliS!

Congratulations to Fr. Fox and Fr. Totton!

Christus ressurexit! - Christ is Risen!

[Becky]

West St. Paul, MN

Vigil started at 7:30 PM, well before full dark - it was light enough to read the "worship aid" by the light coming in through the windows. The fire was kindled in a little Webber kettle in the narthex. Lots of incense during the procession. So far, so good.

Then - no Exultet! In its place we sang this insipid little Marty Haugen piece about how "the light of Christ surrounds us, the love of Christ enfolds us, the presence of Christ watches over us." Pretty enough, in a fluffy-pastels sort of way, but I'm sorry, I don't go to church for fluffy and pastels. My husband is of the opinion that our parish's music director likes to hear his choir sing just a little too much. (The Gloria was unsingable by the congregation, as well.)

Three Old Testament readings - Creation, the sacrifice of Isaac, and the crossing of the Red Sea - the Romans reading, and the Gospel. A homily whose theme I had some trouble following (though there were some mitigating circumstances for that). Two baptisms of older children, and four confirmations, were probably the high point of the evening. One of the shorter Eucharistic prayers, definitely not the Roman Canon.

Overall - I really miss our old pastor! But the Easter Vigil is still a lovely, powerful liturgy, even if I had to read the Exultet out of the missalette before Mass started. (So maybe it's a good thing that it started before full dark!) Oh, and all of this is colored by the fact that I came down hard with a cold on Friday and was having trouble staying awake through the Vigil, so take it for what it's worth!

[j]

During the Litany of the Saints, our cantor added Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero and perhaps others, who to my knowledge either weren't Catholic, or canonized, or both. Am I nuts to think that is completely nuts? At the least, it distracts from contemplating the actual saints whose lives are role models; I start to wonder things like, "Why not Roberto Clemente?" (Older Pirates fans will understand).

[Ken]

St Boniface, Anaheim, California.

Fairly straightforward as far as I could tell; no blatant liturgical irregularities.

Music varied a bit, from traditional hymns to "contemporary" guitar pieces. Very mixed; would have preferred the traditional hymns maintained all the way through. (To an Anglo in SoCal, anything even vaguely resembling Mariachi or Mexican Pop sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard.)

"Bilingual Mass", alternating readings, psalms, and even alternate lines of Litany of the Saints between English & Spanish. (No Viet this year.) Very confusing. Would have been more consistent to just do it all in Latin.

[Arabella]

j,
In the Litany of the Saints we too had Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero and various others including GANDHI! This was in an Australian Parish.

[Anna]

Morrisville, PA

This Easter Vigil was a bit disappointing. Only 3 or 4 of the OT readings were done. I like them all. Monsignor seemed to use so little water in baptism, I'm not sure that the young ladies even got wet. (and I was near the font.)

A lot of the Mass was sung.

Homily very disapointing, closer to the "Circle of Life" rather than life changing, etc.

Sadly, all our new members were teens or younger. (4 baptized, 1 more for confirmation and 2 for first Eucharist. )

For those who are bothered by the split liturgy, like St. Meinrad does, my parish in Illinois does (or did ), a group of people stay in the church reading the Psalms aloud. I love it. They were the 2nd and 3rd most memorable Easter vigils, I've attended. My entrance into the Church is the most memorable one.

[Anglican Peggy]

St Matthais (Episcopal) Dallas, TX.

We also observe the Triduum in our church.

The Vigil started with a very onery First Fire that didnt want to start followed by the always scary few moments when the fire is blazing in the narthex! Dont ask me why they do it. It always worries the heck out of me for priests in their vestments first and foremost and secondly for the building. If we can process outside on Palm Sunday, then why oh why must they insist on starting a rather large fire inside??? *shakes head* Maybe one of the acolytes is standing unseen off to the side with a fire extinguisher at the ready???

Anyway, the service proceeded with ceremony over the new Paschal candle which was followed by the light from that candle spreading through the sanctuary. We had three infant baptisms. Our practice is to confirm new communicants in a separate ceremony at a later date although they are welcome to take communion if they want to at the Vigil if our priests concur. All the babies fussed a little at the flowing water to the delight of the whole Church.

Next came the Liturgy of the Word where several passages were read detailing God's saving works in the past. The reading from Ezekiel 36: 24-28 really struck me since this Lent has been for me so much about toppling my idols and being set free from the bad memories that enslave me.

This year our associate was the celebrant which resulted in our rector being the deacon for the night. Bonus!! Our rector has a really beautiful resonant voice and he is an excellent singer who always sings the Mass with such fine emotion. He sang the Exsultet this year. I was a little out of it until that point. His singing snapped me out of it from that point on. I dont think I was as appreciative of this part last year as I was this year because I was so looking forward to it this year. Thanks to the Anchoress I was really ready to hear it.

I cried buckets last year when we sang the Gloria again. This year I smiled and laughed for joy through the whole thing.

The Great Alleluia came a little after and was sung by our associate whose voice is fine but treacherous. On the last Alleluia his voice cracked on a high note and he chuckled at himself and we couldnt help joining with him. The congregation had a lot of trouble with it this year myself included. I can read music, alot of folks can, but I think its just lack of practice when you sing something thats so hard to sing only once a year!

The sermon was delivered by our rector. He spoke about not fogetting Good Friday for the joy of Easter and spoke about how our mortality is inseparable from the fact of the Resurrection and our hope in our eventually being raised from the dead ourselves. I think the tone might have had something to do with the death of one of our sisters in Christ on Saturday after a long and hard illness. But then again, he is never one to shy away from talk of death and mortality so who knows.

Mass was followed by a reception/feast. I ate too much appetizers and so I only had room for one brownie after giving it up for Lent :-( My fault. I also had two glasses of wine so I was feeling unusually sociable and I had a great time.

I love my parish. I find Christ there in a strength and power that I have found nowhere else and I thank God for the love of my parish family.

Happy New (Liturgical) Year everyone and have a Happy Easter Week.

[Anglican Peggy]

PS.

I have just recently noticed that I have a bad habit of spelling Matthias incorrectly. I know better but when I am flying, I always spell it wrong :-)

[tim]

St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis, run by the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest:

Easter Vigil according to the pre-1955 liturgical books. Use of the triple candle lighted with the blessed new fire. Powerful blessing of the bapismal font and baptistery. Solemn Latin High Mass with deacon and subdeacon. Beautiful in every way. Wonderful Sermon. Three hours that passed quickly by.

[Fr Martin Fox]

Fr Totton:

Well, as I said, I forgot to bring the old oils to the fire! But last year, at my prior parish, it worked; however, that was a very substantial fire, a real bonfire; whereas this fire was much more modest. I suspect I'd have had the same result as you did.

[John E]

I didn't attend the Vigil this year, although it's my favorite Mass. I love the Masses where everyone wants to be there, and the long Vigil starting early in the morning pretty much assures that. Our parish also celebrates it starting at 3:30am with the fire outside of church, relevant pictures and art shown on the large video screen during the readings from the Old Testament, and 80-some people receiving one or more sacraments for the first (and in some cases only) time. I skipped it this year and went to the 9am Easter morning Mass with my non-Catholic wife and my toddler.

Still, I read the readings and prayers from my Magnificat for the Vigil and prayed for those receiving the sacraments. I love the exultet: http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/42/Exultet____The_Easter_Proclamation.html. I imagined how I would proclaim it, although our priest does a very good job of singing it. I imagine proclaiming it loudly with it growing in volume and emotion as it goes, with brief pauses for sobs of joy before recomposing myself and continuing with even greater determination and emotion -- perhaps like a coach giving an inspirational halftime speech during the biggest game his team has ever played. Finally, after finishing at the absolute peak with "...forever and ever! Amen!!", and dropping to the floor out of view, emotionally spent, the church shakes as the congregation goes wild with applause, all directed towards the blessed sacrament.

[Dave]

Our Easter Vigil Mass here in the greater Columbus area was most interesting. First of all the baptisms were pretty intense. There were 4 (out of 20) being baptized and they got the full treatment, three large pitchers of water dumped over their heads. The baptized were dressed in black shorts and changed into another outfit after the baptism. Also of the 20 coming into the faith, a great many of them choose the names of martyred saints. I mentioned in my CatholicReport.org blog, that perhaps, it is a sign of the times. I don't ever remember hearing so many martyrs names being taken and some obscure ones at that.

[mayangrl]

St. Rose of Lima
Diocese of Santa Rosa, CA

The Easter Vigil started a little after 7pm. Because of very non-California weather (it's rained for most of the last 45 days) we gathered around the Easter fire under a covered spot between the church and the chapel. Since it was such a tight fit, we only ivited the Elect, candidates and their families out. Everyone else stayed in church and listened on the sound system.

We had five readings, the minumum, done in darkness, with only a book light at the ambo. The lights came on at the gloria (w/bells). The church was packed.

13 adults were baptized, 5 received into the church and another 2 confirmed.

While the 13 adults were in the sanctuary getting baptized, or waiting to get baptized, the Extraordinary Minster of the Lights and Other Functions, opened the door from the sacristy and whispered to her husband and I who were standing by the door "There's a bat in here!" and shut the door. I was almost convulsing from giggles, imagining her back there trying to rid of this bat, before all these people went back there to get their white robes on. Turns out there were TWO bats back there, but they got them out in a timely manner. Heh.

Wonderful evening that went very well, except that people stood during the baptisms, which I think the priest should've had them sit, in order to facilitate viewing. I didn't even realize it until afterwards, as I was in the sanctuary calling people forward for the sacraments.

I have to say I'm glad RCIA will be winding down; dealing with 20 people and their individual needs can be tiring to say the least.

-Laura

[A]

At our parish in New York City, Easter Vigil is one of the church's three or four fully bilingual masses during the year (the congregation is mostly African-American and Mexican-American).

The church was almost completely dark until the Gloria.

At our lovely mass, we had three adults baptized and six received into the church. Four chose the names of martyr saints as confirmation names, IIRC.

Music/chants: The exultet was gorgeous. The only non-saints I can remember being sung in the Litany of the Saints were Fr. Romero and Venerable Pierre Toussaint. We sang traditional spirituals, a couple of modern gospel tunes (two by Kirk Franklin) and one hymn in Spanish. The confirmation selection was "Spirit of the Living God."

It was such a joy to be able again to sing and shout "Alleluia!"

[RP Burke]

Holy Saturday: Easter Vigil.

I was right in the middle of this, as master of ceremonies, a role I filled a few years ago but have tried to avoid since. But the phone rang with a request to substitute and of course I said yes.

It meant, of course, that I didn’t sit with my family, and I miss that at big liturgical celebrations. My wife and I met in a lector program and ever since we have striven to be a pair whenever possible.

We did the celebration as much as possible according to Hoyle, but with some minor adaptations.

I learned how to do something I’d never done before: tie a cincture. The parish has new albs from the last time I was m.c., and unlike the old ones these required being tied up — and my previous experience with robes have all been with cassock and surplice, as altar boy through high school or as choir member. I thought an old Boy Scout slipknot would do the trick: nope. Needed help from one of the servers. Next I was handed, by the adult who was to light the fire outside, a cross to wear around my neck. No, I said, not until I become a bishop. Oh. Not another word about it — and no comments either. The one female server who’d signed up for the Vigil failed to appear, so the altar party was the pastor, two male servers, and me — all male. And no one seemed to notice, though we haven’t yet done the post-mortem.

Five minutes before the scheduled time of 8:30, chosen in part because it was before the security lights went on in the courtyard even though it wasn’t fully dark (civil twilight, when it’s noticeably dark, was at 8:36, while astronomical twilight, when no more sunlight is in the sky and ideal starting time, was at 9:44), I invited those inside the church to come outside for the Service of Light. We made it inside with 10 minutes to spare before the security lights blazed on.

The Exsultet was the J. Michael Thompson version for deacon or cantor and choir. We have no deacon, so our pastor took the part that an ordained person has to sing — “My dearest friends …” — while two cantors shared the rest while the choir accompanied in various ways, such as humming, singing in unison or in parallel organum (i.e., with some singers in unison and others a musical fifth above).

Only the people’s candles (and the choir’s book lights) lit the church, along with votive candles placed on each window sill. These last remained on, along with lights around the lectern, for the vigil readings. We did just three readings from the Jewish scriptures: Genesis on the creation of the world, the mandatory Exodus on the trip through the Red Sea, and Isaiah calling on us to “come to the water.” At the end of the Exodus reading, the lector sang “I will sing to the Lord…” rather than just read it, and she’s a good singer so it worked well. As usual, Respond & Acclaim responsorial psalms, unaccompanied (though I think R&A needs accompaniment).

Then came the Gloria, and again it was the music director’s “festive” work, the Mass of Creation. How many times are we going to have to hear this? (More about St. Marty below.) The servers lit the altar candles and two candelabras nearby, and I realized that I had to join them because I was the only one tall enough to reach the Easter candle. They were also supposed to light the window candles, but they had been lit during the Service of Light and never put out — and I think that was a better plan.

I must admit I didn’t pay much attention to the homily, since as m.c. I had to be a step ahead of the priest and servers for the baptismal liturgy. We had three elect and two candidates for full communion, a reasonable number to handle both at the Vigil. The RCIA director — who believes as I do that we need a serious, intellectual adult religious education program — called the three forward with their sponsors, and then it was time to bless the font. An extra wrinkle that I think was unnecessary: they — and the candidates too, even though they weren’t being baptized — marched with me during the Litany of the Saints (alas, it was Becker’s OCP one-note version) to the back of the church to pick up a pitcher of water to pour into the font. Large stoneware font, not our usual one, but not a Jacuzzi or walk-in pool.

Then we returned to near the candle and font for the baptism itself. For the blessing of water and font we had carefully prepared the Easter candle to avoid the comedy of having to yank it out and spilling wax all over, or being stuck altogether. But I had to re-remove it again when it became apparent that for lighting the three baptismal candles it was too tall for anyone to reach.

We did the modernist version of the sprinkling rite that followed the renewal of baptismal promises, where the congregation processes to the font and sprinkles or marks a cross with the water on the one next in the line. This extends the sprinkling rite somewhat, of course, and is one of the “adaptations” I’d mentioned earlier. I think it’s reasonable, since it gets the people up and out of their seats to do something after 90 minutes in their places.

But one element in the way we did this absolutely has to go: the song. It was one of the most execrable excuses for music I’ve ever heard at a Mass: “Up From the Waters,” text and tune by contemporary Catholic music’s biggest star, the low-church Protestant Marty Haugen. It sounded like something that didn’t make the cut at the 3rd grade hoedown. We should burn this mess with the palms and wear the ashes as part of our Lenten penance.

How did this crap ever get published? Oh, yes, I remember: a senior editor at one of the big 3 publishers told me once, “If you think this is bad, you ought to see what we reject!” Why is there no musical standard at all? How did this hack get to be the big star? Why can’t we do better than this?

Otherwise everything was straightforward, including the full communion and confirmations, and prayers of the faithful (led by a lector here and not by the neophytes).

We used incense at the offertory. Incense is a controversial subject at our parish because the building has a relatively low ceiling and several choir members protest — one with good reason — that they are allergic. So we got the thurible out of the church immediately after the incensing of the candle before the Exsultet, bringing it back in only for incensing the gifts, celebrant and people. These last two I did, probably the first time in 20 years in this small parish that the people were incensed. I paid no attention whatsoever to the music, though I did notice my wife’s broader than usual grin when I turned with the thurible toward her and almost lost it right there!

We had a third small cup ready to be placed on the altar for the offertory but when the pastor and I saw the size of the assembly, no larger than our usual Sunday crowd, we decided to stick to the two small cups. Oops … we used fancy cups that were smaller than our usual Sunday hardware and we ran out of consecrated wine anyway. At least no one had to take a large draught of what is ontologically the Lord but physically an intoxicating drink before driving home!

One of the assigned extraordinary ministers failed to show up, and since we were going to give the neophytes their communion before anyone else and I was going to have to stage-manage this, I took on the communion minister function rather than seek one of the regulars from the congregation and then direct him or her to do something out of the ordinary. Again, I didn’t pay any attention to the music that (wasn’t) sung during the distribution of communion; and after communion the choir sang some unmemorable gospel-style number.

Our priest gladly sang both the final blessing and double-alleluia dismissal (as with the procession in, I gave him a note with my pitch pipe that I’d squirreled into my robe). Exit music — where the priest and I waited to leave so the neophytes could join the procession out — was the great warhorse “Jesus Christ is Risen Today.”

Now, some happy news. Our alienated teenage daughter came to the Vigil and brought a new friend from school and her interracial family, who may be joining our parish. They found that people in other parishes were cold and unwelcoming, uncomfortable with their family that met the world’s but not the church’s definition of a mixed marriage.

[Linda Cacpal]

Our RCIA process the logo - "Journey of a Lifetime" and each year our catechumens and candidates are a joy to be with.

The Easter Vigil liturgy this year just blew me away, even more than usual. Besides being the first one in our newly renovated church, the rich images of a well-prayed liturgy reflected in the joyouse faces of our 22 baptised (11 adults, 11 children), our 4 Candidates for Full Communion and 13 candidates for Completion of Sacraments.

From the fire to the flame of the Paschal candle to the beautifully intoned Lumen Christi and Exsultet, we were wrapped in the beauty and expectation of the Ultimate Beauty soon to light up the church from the soft candlight.

Each year the liturgy runs about 3 hours and we don't use all 7 readings - we simply have lots of baptisms, professions of faith and confirmations. Yet each year it thrills me once again to hear the Creation, the Chase of the Chariots and the call to the Water again and again.

Our priests we particularly careful with their laying on of hands this year - once during the Litany of the Saints and once by each pastor at Confirmation. If this group doesn't know what it means to be specially chosen by the Lord, blessed and anointed for Mission, I don't know when they'll ever be more aware than at that Vigil.

Holy Week and especially the Vigil IS the message and I'm so happy to be a member of a Church where the message is so clearly expressed liturgically and pastorally - all during their formation they've been hearing the worlds of our Holy Father and hopefully, unlike the mainstream media, they've been paying attention.

Sorry so long, but the joy is great! Aloha from Hawaii and St. Elizabeth's parish in Aiea(near Pearl Harbor).